One Month: Things I Have Learned

I can't believe a month has gone by already! Here are 20 lessons/things I have learned in my month here..

1. Agressively pushing the line forward or asking a question from four places back in a lineup is accepatable and sometimes the only way to be attended to.

2. If you don't remember to take toilet paper from the "community" roll at the door of public washrooms you are OUT OF LUCK! You will learn this lesson faster than any other lesson and for reasons I won't go into here.

3. Most public toilets have no seats, who needs a thighmaster!

4. Pedestrians DO NOT have the right of way, if you get hit by a car YOU are at fault not the driver. Even at green lights look ALL ways before you cross or it is only a matter of time before you are under the wheels of something.

5. People wear their shoes in the house and there is nothing you can do about it.

6. Because of #5: TIP: Importing Swiffers would be a lucrative business! I can't find one anywhere!

7. You will think it is not possible to wash the same floor twice in one day, but speaking from experience, it really is.

8. You have not experienced agressive driving until you drive on the highway during rush hour
in Bogota. Only the drivers with the most finely honed skills make it anywhere, often with only half an inch to spare between their car and yours.

9. The horn on your car is actually for daily driving use, and a useful tool. It is not just for road raging someone in the Tdot.

10. 3 out of 5 taxi drivers will reach over and lock your door when they hear you speak English or see your blue eyes.

11. 9 out of 10 people will not look twice at a pale, blond haired, blue eyed person. The 10th person will make up for it by staring so hard at you that you think their head will twist off as you pass.

12. Wearing a toque to the mall makes you stick out a lot. You will quickly remove it as your husband whisperscreamhisses "WHY IS EVERYONE STARING AT YOU?"

13. Heavy security and searching your car trunk is regular practice at mall parking entrances.

14. The HomeCenter (South American Home Depot, exactly the same as a North American HD) has bomb sniffing dogs at the entrance. The will jump in your trunk and run madly around your car. (why the Home Depot would be a target I have no idea!!)

15. Eating an entire pint of Uchuva fruit will seem like a delicious idea while in progress but will in fact make you extremely sick and you will want to die for 24 hours straight.

16. Food is very hearty, lots of meat, potatoes, plantain and rice but with no spice.

17. Hot sauce is always provided, however, all hot sauce is not created equal. Try it before you dump it on your food or you might regret it!

18. Yogurt is a drink, not a lovely thick creamy sweet snack and sadly cottage cheese is nowhere to be found.

19. Taking a camera out in public will make your husband yell at you. (this is why there are few pictures on here as of yet)

20. It is possible to go for an entire month and not see another Canadian. (of all the places I've been this is the longest time I have not seen another Canuck)

Happy Long TwoFour Weekend to all of my Canadian family and friends!